USES OF KEPTILES. 283 



.stroyers of vermin are duly appreciated. In South Spain and 

 Africa the chameleon is kept in the rooms to catch flies, and in 

 hothouses lizards and even toads are frequently made use of to 

 cleanse the premises of vermin. In the torrid zone snakes are 

 sometimes domesticated for a similar purpose. Thus the rat- 

 snake of Ceylon (Coryphodon blumenbachi) is often kept as a 

 household pet by the natives ; and what is still more remarkable, 

 even the dreaded cobras are domesticated in the place of dogs. 

 They glide about the house, going in and out at pleasure, a 

 terror to thieves, but never attempting to harm the inmates. 



Several of the reptiles afford an equally agreeable and 

 healthy food. The flesh of the turtle needs no special encomium ; 

 one single specimen of the elephantine tortoise of the Gralapagos 

 will provide a ship's company with a supply of fresh meat for 

 several weeks ; and the common or Greek tortoise, which also 

 renders good services in gardens by the destruction of insects, 

 is frequently brought upon the provision market in the coast 

 towns of the Mediterranean. 



The white flesh of the iguana is one of the great delicacies 

 of the West Indies, and on the Continent frogs' legs are the 

 epicure's delight. But it is not merely as food that the reptiles 

 are valuable to man : tortoise-shell which ought rather to be 

 called turtle-shell, as it is furnished by a denizen of the ocean 

 (Hawksbill-turtle) is one of the most elegant articles for various 

 ornamental purposes, and the tough skin of the crocodiles and 

 alligators make excellent sandals and saddles. 



On comparing with all these services the injuries which the 

 reptiles inflict upon man, it will be found that the balance 

 inclines very much in favour of the former. It is but seldom 

 that he falls a prey to crocodiles and alligators, or that the boa 

 crushes him to death, or that the poison-fang of the rattlesnake 

 dooms him to almost instantaneous destruction. No venomous 

 snake will ever attack him unprovoked ; the boas and pythons, 

 far from seeking the opportunity of assailing him, are glad to 

 escape his notice ; and the crocodiles are so awkward on land 

 that they are but little inclined to seek their prey out of the 

 water.. 



Both the noxious and the far more numerous harmless reptiles 

 are kept in check by a host of enemies. The storks, herons, 

 and buzzards are constantly thinning their ranks ; the ostrich 



